Dynamo 1, Puebla 0 - postgame notes

In a
match marred by 12 cards and 35 fouls, the Houston Dynamo pulled out an
entertaining 1-0 win over Mexican club Puebla Wednesday night, winning
SuperLiga Group A in the process and earning a home game for the semifinals in
the first week of August. Houston will host Monarcas Morelia, while the New
England Revolution will host Puebla.

The
Dynamo are back in action on the road on Saturday, facing the Eastern
Conference-leading Columbus Crew at Crew Stadium at 6:30 p.m. CT.

On
Wednesday night, a physical game came to life in the 64th minute, when Corey
Ashe served in a free kick from the left, and Cam Weaver headed the ball
downward. Forward Dominic Oduro reacted first and knocked the ball into an
empty net to give the Dynamo the lead. It was Oduro’s team-high fourth goal of
the year in all competitions.

The
match turned ugly down the stretch, as two players from each team were ejected
in three separate incidents, two of which took time to sort out. In the end, 12
cards were issues – eight yellow and four red – seven to Houston and five to
Puebla. The match fell short of the record for total red cards in a Dynamo match: five, set in last year's CONCACAF Champions League on the road against Arabe Unido.

Houston
goalkeeper Tally Hall made his third consecutive start and earned the shutout.
He made a key deflection at the end of the first half, with an open man
arriving at the back post, and made a huge save on Edgar Lugo in stoppage time
to preserve the 1-0 lead. The win was Hall’s fourth of the year, surpassing his
total of three from 2009.

For
the Dynamo, three players will now be suspended for the semifinal match against
Monarcas Morelia on a date to be announced August 3-5: Danny Cruz (yellow card
accumulation, red card), Dominic Oduro (red card), and Joseph Ngwenya (yellow
card accumulation), each for the semifinal only. Puebla will also miss three
players for its semifinal against the New England Revolution: Melvin Brown (red
card), Alvaro Gonzalez (red card), and Yasser Corona (yellow card
accumulation).

Dynamo
midfielder Anthony Obodai made his first competitive appearance for the club
and played 90 minutes in midfield. Midfielder Corey Ashe made his 120th
appearance for the Dynamo in all competitions. Defender Ryan Cochrane made his
75th career start for the Dynamo in all competitions.